Horizon Corporation manufactures personal computers. The company began operations in 2013 and reported profits for the year s 2013 through 2016. Due primarily to increased competition and price slashing in the industry, 2017's income statement reported a loss of $20 million. Just before the end of the 2018 fiscal year, a memo from the company's chief financial officer to Jim Fielding, the company controller, included the following comments:
If we don't do something about the large amount of unsold computers already manufactured, our auditors will require us to write them off. The resulting loss for 2018 will cause a violation of our debt covenants and force the company into bankruptcy. I suggest that you ship half of inventory to J. B. Sales Inc., in Oklahoma City. I know the company's president and he will accept the merchandise and acknowledge the shipment as a purchase. We can record the sale in 2018 which will boost profits to an acceptable level. The J. B. Sales will simply return the merchandise in 2019 after the financial statements have been issued. Required:A) Discuss the ethical dilemma faced by Jim Fielding.

Selected information about income statement accounts for the reed company is presented below (the company's fiscal year ends on december 31): 2018 2017sales $ 4,400,000 $ 3,500,000cost of goods sold 2,860,000 2,000,000administrative expenses 800,000 675,000selling expenses 360,000 312,000interest revenue 150,000 140,000interest expense 200,000 200,000loss on sale of assets of discontinued component 50,000 —on july 1, 2018, the company adopted a plan to discontinue a division that qualifies as a component of an entity as defined by gaap. the assets of the component were sold on september 30, 2018, for $50,000 less than their book value. results of operations for the component (included in the above account balances) were as follows: 1/1/18-9/30/18 2017 sales $ 400,000 $ 500,000 cost of goods sold (290,000 ) (320,000 )administrative expenses (50,000 ) (40,000 )selling expenses (20,000 ) (30,000 )operating income before taxes $ 40,000 $ 110,000 in addition to the account balances above, several events occurred during 2018 that have not yet been reflected in the above accounts: a fire caused $50,000 in uninsured damages to the main office building. the fire was considered to be an infrequent but not unusual event. inventory that had cost $40,000 had become obsolete because a competitor introduced a better product. the inventory was sold as scrap for $5,000.income taxes have not yet been recorded. required: prepare a multiple-step income statement for the reed company for 2018, showing 2017 information in comparative format, including income taxes computed at 40% and eps disclosures assuming 300,000 shares of common stock. (amounts to be deducted should be indicated with a minus sign. round eps answers to 2 decimal places.)